Centre urged to restrain AP from going ahead with Polavaram
The Hindu, Special Correspondent

NFAPD activists say construction of embankment unviable

* The project will affect people in 19 villages of Chhattisgarh and Motu area of Orissa
* NFAPD meeting adopts resolution seeking re-examination of the project

VISAKHAPATNAM: Several social activists and environmentalists on Tuesday appealed to the Centre to restrain AP from going ahead with work on controversial Polavaram Indira Sagar project till the objections raised by Orissa and Chhattisgarh were addressed to.

At a meeting held here under the aegis of National Forum Against Polavaram Dam (NFAPD), the activists adopted a resolution asking the Central authorities to immediately stop work on Polavaram as it lacked consent of affected communities in Orissa and Chattisgarh.

The resolution vehemently opposed the claim that the construction of an embankment with a height of 40 feet stretching over 30 km would prevent submergence and displacement in Orissa and Chattisgarh.

Stating that the proposed embankment was unviable, they claimed that the project was bound to affect people in 19 villages of Kunta district of Chhattisgarh and an estimated 30,000 in Motu area of Orissa’s Malkangiri district.

Petition
A petition filed by Orissa against the project will come up for hearing in Supreme Court on October 4. The resolution stated that the project should be re-examined as the clearances for land acquisition, forest rights and rehabilitation and resettlement approved in AP were not acceptable in Orissa and Chhattisgarh.

NFAPD convener Badal Kumar Tah and co-convener M. Bharat Bhushan told The Hindu that it was a national project and also a national issue which call for a national debate over the ramifications of the project.

They said the project would cause larger displacement and submergence than Narmada project.

“We are against the Polavaram dam in its present form and demand Central authorities to examine all alternatives suggested by experts and civil society to honour the assurances provided to protect rights of the people by the Constitution and several legislations and policies,” they stated.